Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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PROCESS FOR THE PREPARATION OF DOPED PENTASIL-TYPE
ZEOLITES USING DOPED FAUJASITE SEEDS
The present invention relates to the preparation of doped pentasil-type
zeolites
using doped faujasite seeds.
US 5,232,675 discloses a process for the preparation of rare earth metal (RE)-
doped pentasil-type zeolites using RE-doped faujasite seeds. The process
involves the steps of dispersing the RE-doped faujasite seeds in a gel system
comprising water glass, aluminium salt, inorganic acid, and water, and
crystallising the resulting mixture at a temparture of 30-200°C for 12-
60 hours.
The present invention provides a process for the preparation of rare earth
metal-doped pentasil-type zeolites which requires a shorter crystallisation
time
than the prior art process.
The process according to the invention involves the steps of:
a) preparing an aqueous precursor mixture comprising a silicon source, an
aluminium source, doped faujasite seeds, and another type of seeding
material, and
b) thermally treating the precursor mixture to form a doped pentasil-type
zeolite.
The process requires the use of doped faujasite seeds. Examples of faujasite
seeds are zeolite X and (ultrastabilised) zeolite Y.
The term "doped faujasite seeds" refers to faujasite seeds containing an
additive (also called dopant). Suitable dopants include compounds comprising
rare earth metals such as Ce or La, alkaline earth~metals such as Mg, Ca, and
Ba, transition metals such as Zr, Mn, Fe, Ti, Cu, Ni, Zn, Mo, W, V, and Sn,
actinides, noble metals such as Pt and Pd, gallium, boron, and/or phosphorus.
Suitable compounds are the oxides, hydroxides, carbonates, hydroxy-
carbonates, chlorides, nitrates, sulfates, and phosphates of the above
elements.
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The dopant is present in the faujasite seed in amounts of 1-50 wt%, preferably
1-25 wt%, more preferably 5-20 wt%, and most preferably 10-20 wt%,
calculated as oxide and based on the dry weight of the doped faujasite seeds.
Doped faujasite seeds can be prepared by, e.g., ion-exchange, impregnation,
and solid state exchange of the faujasite seeds with the dopant. These
procedures are well-known to the skilled person.
Furthermore, at least one other type of seeding material is used in the
process.
The term "other type of seeding material" refers to templates or seeds other
than doped faujasite seeds. Suitable other types of seeding materials include
pentasil-type seeds (e.g. ZSM-5 seeds, ZSM-11 seeds, zeolite beta seeds,
etc.), any other type of seed or template generally applied in ZSM-5
synthesis,
such as sots or gels containing an organic directing template such as
tetrapropyl ammonium hydroxide (TPAOH) or tetrapropyl ammonium bromide
(TPABr). An example of such a template-containing sol is a Si-AI sol
containing
0.1-10 wt% of tetrapropyl ammonium bromide.
If desired, the other type of seeding material is doped. Suitable dopants
include
compounds comprising rare earth metals such as Ce and La, alkaline earth
metals such as Mg, Ca, and Ba, transition metals such as Mn, Fe, Ti, Zr, Cu,
Ni,
Zn, Mo, W, V, and Sn, actinides, noble metals such as Pt and Pd, gallium,
boron, and/or phosphorus.
The optional dopant(s) present in the other type of seeding material can be
the
same as or different from the dopant(s) present in the doped faujasite seeds.
The pentasil-type zeolite resulting from the process according to the
invention
preferably has a SIO2/AI203 ratio (SAR) of 25-90. Typical examples of pentasil-
type zeoiites are ZSM-type zeolites, such as ZSM-5, ZSM-11, ZSM-12, ZSM-
22, ZSM-23, and ZSM-35, zeolite beta, and zeolite boron beta. The doped
pentasil-type zeolite preferably contains 0.1-10 wt%, more preferably 0.1-3
wt%,
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and most preferably 0.5-2.5 wt% of dopant, calculated as oxide and based on
the total dry weight of the doped zeolite.
The first step of the process according to the invention involves the
preparation
of an aqueous precursor mixture comprising a silicon source, an aluminium
source, doped faujasite seeds, and at least one other type of seeding
material.
Suitable aluminium sources include aluminium salts, such as AI2(S04)3, AIC13,
A1P0~, AI2(HPO4)3, and AI(H2P04)3, and water-insoluble aluminium compounds,
e.g., aluminium trihydrate (AI(OH)3) such as gibbsite and bauxite ore
concentrate (BOC), thermally treated aluminium trihydrate such as flash-
calcined aluminium trihydrate, (pseudo)boehmite, aluminium chlorohydrol,
aluminium nitrohydrol. Also mixtures of one or more of these aluminium sources
can be used.
Alternatively, doped aluminium sources can be used. Examples of such doped
aluminium sources are doped (pseudo)boehmite and doped aluminium
trihydrate.
Doped aluminium sources can be obtained by preparing the aluminium source
in the presence of a dopant, impregnating the aluminium source with a dopant,
or ion-exchanging the aluminium source with a dopant.
Doped (pseudo)boehmite for instance can be prepared by hydrolysis of
aluminium alkoxide in the presence of a dopant, hydrolysis and precipitation
of
aluminium salts in the presence of a dopant, or by aging a slurry of
(thermally
treated) aluminium trihydrate, amorphous gel alumina, or less crystalline
(pseudo)boehmite in the presence of a dopant. For more information
concerning the preparation of doped (pseudo)boehmite reference is made to
International Patent Application Nos. WO 01/12551, WO 01/12552, and WO
01/12554.
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Suitable silicon sources include sodium silicate, sodium meta-silicate,
stabilised
silica sots, silica gels, polysilicic acid, tetra ethylortho silicate, fiumed
silicas,
precipitated silicas, and mixtures thereof.
Also doped silicon sources can be used. Doped silicon sources can be obtained
by preparing the silicon source in the presence of a dopant, impregnating the
silicon source with a dopant, or ion-exchanging the silicon source with a
dopant.
Doped silica sol for instance can be prepared by preparing a silica sol from
water glass and acid (e.g. sulfuric acid) and exchanging the sodium ions with
the desired dopant. Alternatively, water glass, acid (e.g. sulfuric acid), and
dopant are coprecipitated to form a doped silica sol.
Suitable dopants for the aluminium and/or the silicon source include compounds
comprising rare earth metals such as Ce and La, alkaline earth metals such as
Mg, Ca, and Ba, transition metals such as Mn, Fe, Ti, Zr, Cu, Ni, Zn, Mo, W,
V,
and Sn, actinides, noble metals such as Pt and Pd, gallium, boron, andlor
phosphorus.
The optional dopant(s) present in the silicon and/or the aluminium source and
the dopant in the doped faujasite seeds can be the same or different.
The precursor mixture preferably contains 0.1-10 wt%, more preferably 0.5-10
wt% of doped faujasite seeds and preferably 1-10 wt%, more preferably 1-5
wt% of the other type of seeding material, based on dry weight of the
precursor
mixture.
The amounts of silicon and aluminium source present in the precursor mixture
depend on the desired SAR of the resulting doped pentasil-type zeolite.
If so desired, several other compounds may be added to the precursor mixture,
such as metal (hydr)oxides, sols, gels, pore regulating agents (sugars,
surfactants), clays, metal salts, acids, bases, etc.
Furthermore, it is possible to mill the precursor mixture.
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The second step of the process involves thermal treatment of the precursor
mixture at temperatures ranging from 130 to 200°C, preferably 150-
180°C, for
3-60 hrs, preferably 1-11 hrs, and most preferably 3-8 hrs. During this step,
the
doped pentasil-type zeolite is formed by crystallisation.
5 The thermal treatment can be conducted in one or more reaction vessels. If
more than one such vessel is used, the process is preferably conducted in a
continuous mode. Using more than one reaction vessel further makes it
possible to prepare the aqueous precursor mixture either by adding all
ingredients to the first vessel, or by dividing the addition of (part of the
total
amount of) the ingredients over the reaction vessels.
The precursor mixture of step a) or the, doped pentasil-type zeolite resulting
from step b) can be shaped to form shaped bodies. Suitable shaping methods
include spray-drying, pelletising, extrusion (optionally combined with
kneading),
beading, or any other conventional shaping method used in the catalyst and
absorbent fields or combinations thereof.
When shaping the precursor mixture of step a), the amount of liquid present in
the precursor mixture should be adapted to the specific shaping step to be
conducted. It may be advisable to partially remove the liquid used in the
precursor mixture and/or to add an additional or another liquid, and/or to
change
the pH of the precursor mixture to make the mixture gellable and thus suitable
for shaping. Additives commonly used in the different shaping methods, e.g.,
extrusion additives, may be added to the precursor mixture used for shaping.
If so desired, the resulting doped pentasil-type zeolite may be calcined and
optionally ion-exchanged.
The doped pentasil-type zeolite can be used in or as a catalyst composition or
catalyst additive composition for, e.g. hydrogenation, dehydrogenation,
catalytic
cracking (FCC), and alkylation reactions.
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EXAMPLES
Comparative Example 1
A precursor mixture was prepared by combining 2,007 g water glass, 208 g
aluminium sulfate, 141 g of 98% H2S04, 2,466 g water, and 45 g Y-zeolite
seeds doped with 12 wt% RE (calculated as oxide).
The precursor mixture was treated at 170°C at autogeneous pressure
for 12
hours. The characteristics of the resulting pentasil-type zeolite are
presented in
Table 1 below.
This Example shows that Y zeolite as such can act as a seed for the nucleation
of pentasil-type zeolites.
Comparative Example 2
Comparative Example 1 was repeated, except that the,, precursor mixture was
treated at 170°C for 6 hrs. The results are shown in Table 1 below.
This Example indicates that under these reaction conditions a crystallisation
time of 6 hrs is inadequate for the formation of significant amounts of
pentasil-
type zeolite.
Example 3
Comparative Example 2 was repeated, except that, in addition to the other
compounds, 6.5 g of ZSM-5 seeds were added to the precursor mixture.
The characteristics of the resulting pentasil-type zeolite are also presented
in
Table 1. This Example clearly shows that the addition of another type of seed
accelerates the crystallisation. So, in the presence of this seed, a
crystallisation
time of 6 hrs is adequate.
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Table 1
Comp. Example Comp. Example Example 3
1
2
BET-surface 316 37 320
area m2/
Micropore 0.1227 0.0116 0.1193
volume ml/
ZSM-5 85 6 83
~ The % ZSM-5 refers to the relative crystallinity of the sample, which was
determined by X-ray diffraction using copper K-alpha radiation. The sample's
total net integrated intensity of the reflections within the 20-range of 20-
25° was
determined and compared with that of a monoclinic ZSM-5.
